OSSLT Overview
Cardinal Carter CHS
February 23rd, 2012
Jennifer Casa-Todd, Program Resource Teacher
Cathie Furfaro, Literacy Consultant 7-12
PRAYER
“Your words are what sustain me. They bring me
great joy and are my heart’s delight, for I bear your
name, O LORD God Almighty.”
(Jeremiah 15:16, NLT)
 Let us Praise God for access to His Word through literacy.
 Let us Pray for literate members of our Cardinal Carter
community and the greater community so that we may
feast on the Scriptures.
 Let us pray for the teachers, administrators, and parents
who help support our students as they seek to understand
words and God’s Word.
 We ask this through Christ our Lord,
AMEN
Cardinal Carter, pray for us.
Agenda
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Principal’s Welcome
What is the OSSLT?
Results for 2011
EQAO website
School-Wide Preparation
Literacy at Home
What is the OSSLT?
The OSSLT is a provincial test of
the reading and writing skills
students have acquired by the end
of grade 9.
 It is based on the literacy skills
learned in The Ontario Curriculum
across all subject areas.
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Graduation Requirement
All students who are working
toward an Ontario Secondary
School Diploma are required to
write the OSSLT in Grade 10.
 Successful completion of the OSSLT
or OSSLC is a graduation
requirement.
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Looking at the test….
Booklet 1
75 minutes
15 minute break
Booklet 2
75 minutes
Students write in their homerooms unless they are
allowed accommodations or special provisions.
Reading Skills
The test has multiple-choice and open
response questions that focus on the reading
skills required in school and in daily life:
 understanding explicitly (directly) stated
ideas and information;
 understanding implicitly (indirectly) stated
ideas and information and
 making connections between information
and ideas in a reading selection and personal
knowledge and experience.
Reading Tasks
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Informational Text
Graphic Text
Real-life Narrative
Dialogue
News Report
The selections vary in length from a few
paragraphs to a few pages.
Reading a Graphic Text
2011
Writing Skills
The test has short-and-long-writing tasks, and
multiple-choice questions that focus on the
writing skills required in school and daily life:
 developing the main idea with sufficient
supporting details;
 organizing information and ideas in a
coherent manner;
 using conventions (spelling, grammar, and
punctuation) in a manner that does not
distract from clear communication.
Writing Tasks
Long Writing Tasks
 News Report
 A Series of Paragraphs expressing
an Opinion
Short Writing Tasks
 Open response questions
 Short Writing Task (summary)
 Multiple Choice Writing Task
Writing a Short Response
2009
2010
2011
Explain why it is important to learn
about other cultures. Use specific
details to support your answer.
What would be the ideal job for you?
Give reasons to support your answer.
What is the best advice you have ever
given to someone? Use specific
details to explain your answer
Writing a Supported Opinion Piece
Task: Write a minimum of three paragraphs expressing an opinion on the
topic below. Develop your main idea with supporting details (proof, facts,
examples, etc.).
Audience: an adult who is interested in your opinion
Length: The lined space provided for your written work indicates the
approximate length of the writing expected.
Topic:
Are
today’s
famous
people
good
2009
role models for young people?
2010
2011
Topic: Are cell phones necessary in
teenagers’ lives?
Topic: Is participation in extracurricular
activities an important part of secondary
school life?
www.eqao.com
2011 Results for Cardinal Carter
160 of the 169 fully participating students were
successful on the 2010 OSSLT
96
94
92
95%
90
88
Province
YCDSB
CC
86
84
88%
82
80
84%
78
76
2011
Cardinal Carter
Literacy Plan for 2011-2012
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Literacy Committee reviewed OSSLT scores
A plan was developed to improve scores
“Literacy Strategies” were presented at
Academic Council meetings such as:
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Writing a News Report
Reading strategies
Metacognitive strategies
LITERACY PLAN
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“Literacy Tuesdays”
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February 28
March 6
March 20
March 27- OSSLT Presentation for Students
OSSLT Information posted on
school website
SPECIAL EDUCATION SUPPORT
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Grade 10 Applied English (ENG2P1)
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School & Board staff collaborated
Team teaching- to address specific types of
questions on the OSSLT ex. Newspaper Report
Teacher trained in Assistive Technology
ENG2P1 tests & exams- similar format of
OSSLT
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Accommodations
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CR teacher examines the strengths &
needs of each student to determine
accommodations:
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Small group setting
Preferential seating
Extra time
Periodic supervised breaks
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Accommodations
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Assistive Technology
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Vocalinks training
Board staff training
Practice tests
Scribing
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Verbatim reading of the writing prompts and tasks
Verbatim scribing of responses
Match scribe with student according to familiarity
Is this Literacy?
or this?
Recent research has
revealed that students, in
the span of a typical
semester, will generate
approximately 42 pages
worth of work for all
classes, whereas they will
produce in excess of 500
pages in email and text
messages.
What is Literacy?
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The ability to use
language and images in
rich and varied forms to
read, write, listen, speak,
view, represent, and
think critically about
ideas.
It allows us to share
information, to interact
and to make meaning
It connects individuals to
communities
It is essential for
personal growth and
active participation in a
democratic society
You have the tools at home…
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Newspapers
Magazines
Flyers
Brochures
Catalogues
Manuals
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Games
Recipes
Maps
Letters
Computers
How can you support literacy
at home?
Keep it real!!!
 model a love of reading
provide a print rich environment in the
house (popular magazines, trade
paperbacks, newspapers, comics
motivational posters…)
Just read!
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…reading one comic book, news article,
or magazine article a week would
mean reading 100 000 words a
year
…in 38 of 41 studies, students who
read regularly did as well or better in
reading comprehension tests than
students given traditional skill-based
reading instruction.
Achievement on
standardized tests
academic
success
Positive attitudes
about reading
development of

world
knowledge.”
(Moore, Beran, Birdyshaw and Rycik 1999)
How can you support literacy
at home?
Keep it real!!!
 Connect reading material, both fiction and
non-fiction, to what’s going on in the world
and to family stories
 Discuss current events—share opinions, make
predictions, evaluate actions
 Watch films and tv shows together—make
predictions, evaluate character actions, make
judgements
How can you support literacy
at home?
Keep it real!!!
 Plan events together—read flyers, pamphlets,
and maps. Plan a party—brainstorm, compare
websites
 Plan dinner menus--select different recipes to
read, compare different recipes and decide on the
best one
 Play games—Boggle, Scrabble, Balderdash,
Game of Life, etc… help with vocabulary,
inferencing, and interpreting
Students are never too old to benefit
from their parents’ interest in them.
PISA REPORT
PISA= Programme for International Student Assessment
Resources
www.eqao.com
www.abc-canada.org
http://www.literacymatters.org/parents/
index.htm
http://www.canada.com/national/features/
raiseareader/index.html
http://www/mb.literacy.ca/family/flresour/
contents.htm
http://www.unesco.org
http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=cardinal
+carter&hl :&